Mornings in the USSR

We grow up and getting smarter, one event follows another, the carousel rotates life faster and faster. It was only on the eve of the New Year, touching the fragile Christmas decorations and breath tart smell of pine needles, we stop for a moment and go back to your childhood. And there: young mom and dad, funny little animals and iridescent glass balls, aroma of mandarin, nuts and candy, gifts, bustle in the kitchen.





Each of us is a little girl, snowflake or cute boy bunny. The closer the holiday, the more memories of the most joyful and happy moments of life ...



In late December, in all kindergartens were Christmas party.

Modern mom-dad did not think much about where to get the outfit for the baby: in stores, you can buy ready-made colorful costumes bears, foxes, magic gnomes, Batman, Spider-Man, Harry Potter and other children's favorite characters. In the end, the costumes can be rented.



About this fairy-tale splendor of our parents could only dream of, because they had to do Christmas costumes by improvised, sometimes the most unlikely materials.



These suits were unpretentious, so funny and cute. In the course were gauze, cotton, curtain, foam, broken Christmas decorations, beads, tinsel and others, very important stuff, which were collected in a separate box for the whole year. Preparing for the matinee unusually rallied the whole family for a few nights and create pre-holiday mood.



It was a ritual: Mom cut out of starched muslin petticoats lush costume for snowflakes and tinsel sewed a fancy dress, Dad Master "glass slippers" of Czech women and crown made of cardboard. From "Bunny" was easier to dark shorts sewn fur tail and ears were fixed on a cardboard wrap. More "advanced soup" cut out of fabric, wool jammed there and put the wire for durability. And yet - Bunny is ready for them at every Christmas party in kindergarten were many, many.



I must say that Christmas party do not differ a variety of roles.
The girls were almost all snowflakes and fairy princess, younger boys - bunnies, older - parsley or crackers. And it's not because with fantasy by our parents was not much; well, what little girl does not want to be a princess or beauty-sparkling snowflake?







With what pride we paced to the tree and excitedly read memorized poems kindergarten Santa Claus, make a wish and photographed next to them. The role of the latter, incidentally, has long played a caretaker, janitors, cooks and accountants; later began to invite artists and The initiator. Remember Ogurtsova brilliant phrase from "Carnival Night", "Baba Yaga from will not take. Raised in your team! "



By the way, in the USSR matinees for children were held only in 1935, after the December 28 newspaper "Pravda" published an article a candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU (b) Paul Postysheva "Let's organize the children a good Christmas tree." "Before the revolution the bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie always officials arranged for the New Year to your children the Christmas tree. Children working with envy glancing through the window at the sparkling Christmas tree with colored lights and merry around the children of the rich. Why do we have schools, orphanages, nurseries, clubs, palaces pioneers deprive children of this wonderful pleasure of working people of the Soviet country? Some, not only as "left" distorters decried it as a children's entertainment venture bourgeois "- wrote a Communist. He offered to "put an end to the wrong tree condemnation" and called on members of the Komsomol and the pioneer of workers to organize a collective tree for the children of workers and peasants. "There should be no collective farm, where would the board along with the Young Communists would not suit the eve of New Year tree for their kids," - the newspaper wrote.



The proposal was accepted to act with lightning speed, because it was announced the principal organ of the CPSU (b) All that was published in "Pravda", was perceived respectively name of the newspaper, that is, it was a guide to action. In just four days across the country were organized Christmas celebrations at the store there "expansion of the range of Christmas decorations".



For many years the Soviet New Year parties were ideological in nature, approved the script, "specialists of different levels." Representation necessarily built on class struggle - the heroes of the Red Army in costumes and drummers labor necessarily won numerous enemies of the capitalist world.



Later, in the 50-60-ies of the last century, Christmas paraphernalia wore "corn" character: the garment industry, mass-produced Christmas costumes "queen of fields", and fur-trees adorned with bright glass kukuruzki.



Babies same ideological background was not interested, they are genuinely happy tree, danced, recited poems, sang songs and received from the hands of Santa Claus gift.
The most important and prestigious was, of course, Christmas tree in the Kremlin, and the Byelorussian SSR - the Palais des Sports. Every child comes back from the traditional gift - a set of sweets: in the 50s in a tin trunk, in the 60s - in a plastic Kremlin, in the 70th - in the trunk of cardboard, and 80 - in a plastic bag.



Gifts received all Soviet children without exception.
In Minsk, "the main tree of the country" was established at the Sports Palace. Each school taking children to centrally view, after which I had to endure a great place for your gift. They were all, without exception, the same: candy, candy bars, waffles, biscuits, chocolates, tangerines and nuts. Small package of cheap paper was perceived as a holiday as an indispensable addition to the New Year's miracle, fun and carefree child.



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